Preface
Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions 200-301 CCNA Exam Guide, Second Edition, focuses on a range of Cisco technologies that will help you gain a firm understanding of networking, IP connectivity, IP services, security, network programmability, and automation.
Throughout this book, you will be exposed to various networking components and discover how they all work together in an enterprise network. You will also learn how to configure Cisco devices using the command-line interface (CLI) to provide network access, services, security, connectivity, and management.
During the course of this book, you will come across different hands-on labs with real-world scenarios that are designed to help you gain essential on-the-job skills and experience. Furthermore, this book will teach you networking technologies and solutions to implement and administer enterprise networks and infrastructure using Cisco solutions.
By the end of this book, you will have gained the confidence to pass the 200-301 CCNA examination and be well versed in a variety of network administration and security engineering solutions.
Who This Book Is For
This book is designed for beginners who are interested in starting a career in the field of networking and students who are pursuing the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) 200-301 v1.1 certification. In addition, this book is also for any IT professional who is interested in gaining a career boost and learning how to implement and administer Cisco solutions in small to medium-sized networks.
What This Book Covers
Chapter 1, Introduction to Networking, introduces the concepts of network models and the role and function of common networking devices.
Chapter 2, Getting Started with Cisco IOS Devices, demonstrates how to set up a small Cisco environment, perform basic device configurations, and set up remote access.
Chapter 3, Network Architectures and Physical Infrastructure, covers the fundamentals of common network architectures such as the 2-Tier, 3-Tier, and Spine-Leaf models. In addition, this chapter covers common cabling types and interface issues.
Chapter 4, IPv4 and IPv6 Addressing, explores the fundamentals of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, types of addresses, and how to convert an IPv4 address between binary and decimal.
Chapter 5, Practical Subnetting, provides an in-depth and practical discussion on how to get started with designing an IPv4 address scheme for an organization and demonstrates how to perform subnetting.
Chapter 6, Wireless Architectures and Virtualization, covers the fundamentals of Cisco wireless architectures and common operating modes of access points. Additionally, this chapter explores the importance of using virtualization within an IT environment.
Chapter 7, Implementing VLANs and Interswitch Connectivity, introduces the concepts of creating virtual local area networks and the importance of logically segmenting a physical network. This chapter also covers how to extend VLANs over a Layer 2 network and how to set up inter-VLAN routing.
Chapter 8, EtherChannels and Layer 2 Discovery Protocols, explores the importance of using link aggregation between switches such as EtherChannels. This chapter also covers common Layer 2 protocols used by network professionals to discover connected networking devices.
Chapter 9, Understanding and Configuring Spanning Tree, covers the role and function of Spanning Tree within a network and demonstrates how to configure and troubleshoot Spanning Tree within a Cisco environment.
Chapter 10, Interpreting Routing Components, explains the fundamentals of routing and the various components of a routing table within a Cisco router.
Chapter 11, Understanding Static Routing, Dynamic Routing, and First Hop Redundancy, explains how to configure static routing and dynamic routing within a Cisco environment. In addition, this chapter explains the importance and use cases of first-hop redundancy on a network.
Chapter 12, Configuring Network Address Translation (NAT), explains the importance of NAT within an organization and provides the hands-on skills needed to administer and troubleshoot various NAT implementations.
Chapter 13, Implementing Network Services and IP Operations, explains and demonstrates how to set up common network services such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Domain Name System (DNS), Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), and Syslog on a Cisco network.
Chapter 14, Exploring Network Security, explores the fundamentals and importance of network security concepts.
Chapter 15, Configuring Device Access Controls and VPNs, demonstrates how to secure Cisco IOS devices and establish site-to-site and remote access VPNs using Cisco devices.
Chapter 16, Implementing Access Control Lists (ACLs), covers the importance of using ACLs on a network to perform Layer 3 and Layer 4 traffic filtering between networks using Cisco IOS routers.
Chapter 17, Implementing Layer 2 and Wireless Security, covers how to set up common Layer 2 security features on Cisco IOS switches to prevent common attacks such as man-in-the-middle, CAM table flooding, MAC address spoofing, and rogue DHCP on a network.
Chapter 18, Network Automation and Programmability, broaches the fact that the world of networking is moving toward automation, and network engineers will now need to learn how automation can improve efficiency in network deployment and management. This chapter introduces you to network automation techniques and programmability.
How to Get the Most Out of This Book
This book is crafted to equip you with the knowledge and skills necessary to excel in the 200-301 CCNA v1.1 exam through memorable explanations of major domain topics. It covers the five critical core domains for implementing and administering Cisco solutions that candidates must be proficient in to pass the exam. For each domain, you'll work through content that reflects real-world network administration challenges. At certain points in the book, you will assess your understanding by taking chapter-specific quizzes. This not only prepares you for the 200-301 CCNA v1.1 exam but also allows you to dive deeper into a topic as needed based on your results.
Online Practice Resources
With this book, you will unlock unlimited access to our online exam-prep platform (Figure 0.1). This is your place to practice everything you learn in the book.
How to Access These Materials
To learn how to access the online resources, refer to Chapter 19, Accessing the Online Practice Resources, at the end of this book.
Figure 0.1: Online exam-prep platform on a desktop device
Sharpen your knowledge of CCNA concepts with multiple sets of mock exams, interactive flashcards, and exam tips accessible from all modern web browsers.
Download the practice lab files
You can download the practice lab files for this book from GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Implementing-and-Administering-Cisco-Solutions-200-301-CCNA-Exam-Guide-Second-Edition. If there's an update to the lab files, it will be updated in the GitHub repository.
We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!
Conventions Used
There are several text conventions used throughout this book.
Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and X (formerly Twitter) handles. Here is an example: "Assign DHCP snooping for either a single VLAN or a range of VLANs by using the ip dhcp snooping vlan vlan-id command in global configuration mode.
A block of code is set as follows:
GigabitEthernet0/1 is up, line protocol is up (connected) Description: Connected to Wide Area Network (WAN) Internet address is 172.16.1.1/24
Bold: Indicates a new term or an important word. Here is an example: "Since DHCP clients are expected to send only DHCP Discover and DHCP Request messages into an untrusted port, if an...
